Don't Come To Work Sick

Today I worked in the bar all day and we did nearly 300 covers, which is extremely busy. My job was to handle the pastry section, help out with orders on the starter section, and do prep work. The biggest issue of the day was that the cook on starters was sick. He had not been feeling well yesterday with a cold, but today he seemed worse, likely because he had stayed late and come in early and spent all night packing for a move. So I wasn’t really feeling too sorry for him. Especially since he was taking it out on me.

I set up both the pastry section, and his section for him and put together welcome baskets. Then I began cleaning crevettes for him, but they seemed past their prime and I told him that and he still seemed to want to use them, even though he is usually one for “just throw it out.” I didn’t think it was a good idea, but he was telling me he needed them right away. I helped him with a bunch of orders because it was so busy, but I’m not sure if it was his cold or what, but I found him much harder to understand than usual. He must have been getting annoyed at my constant, “Pardons?” which really didn’t help half the time and I still wasn’t sure what he was asking of me. You could tell he felt miserable and couldn’t focus and was messing things up, and I tried to tell him to go take a break while I handled the section but he refused. He is stubborn and particular. So since he said he didn’t need anything from me, I went on to do a whole bunch of vacpacing for the mains cook.

Dessert of the day again - raspberry delice

In the evening, after making garlic potatoes and veg of the day (which I did wrong apparently, even though he had overcooked them), he yelled at me to make chicken mix because he had none left. I had asked him earlier if he needed anything, and after I quickly made it, during which he told me to sharpen my knife, even though that required me to take longer, I discovered he had not been completely out of it.

He got incredibly cranky in the evening, saying f-this and f-that and this is ridiculous and getting angry with the servers, dishwashers, and me. But yet he still asked me if I was ok, because I didn't seem myself today. He threw out a bunch of fish, saying the batter on it wasn’t right, even though they seemed fine to me and they had been freshly battered yesterday and he had said they were done right yesterday. He threw out way more than we could afford to lose. At the end of the night, the head chef just kind of said, “I told you so” saying he shouldn’t be in work, and now he may have to miss even more time. But he seems to insist he will still be in tomorrow, and extra early at that. I have learned a good lesson today, one I am glad I did not have to learn the hard way. It is important to take time for yourself. Never overwork yourself to the point of complete exhaustion. You aren’t doing anyone any favors by showing up to work when you aren’t at your best and doing only half decent jobs and being cranky with the world. Sometimes, you really do need to take that sick day, and that’s ok! You cannot work so many days in a row and expect to feel better.

After service and cleaning, I offered to help the mains cook from upstairs, who had a bunch of stuff to vacpac. He gladly accepted, although I should have realized, knowing him, that it meant getting me to do it all, not just helping. Oh well, I would appreciate the same thing done for me.